APC urges members, supporters to be calm, peaceful

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has appealed to all its members and supporters across Nigeria to remain calm and peaceful, and to resist all acts of provocation as they await the results of the presidential elections.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the post-election moment, when all Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the results of the elections, is a tense moment for the country, hence nothing must be done to disturb the peace or cause disunity.

‘’We must begin the very critical process of healing all the wounds inflicted by the rancorous and divisive electioneering campaign, and rebuilding trust among our unprecedentedly-divided people,’’ it said.

The party, therefore, told all its members and supporters that the agents of disunity are on the prowl ready to trigger trouble and destabilise the country, hence they must not play into the hands of such people.

In another development, former Kwara State Governor, Bukola Saraki, yesterday described Nigerian democracy as a growing concern and therefore would very soon evolve a system that would make it one of the best in the world.

But towards making it a realisable attainment, the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), according to Saraki should uphold its standard and shun any attempt at compromising its standards at whatever level.

In Nigeria, we are having a multi-party system of democracy. If it will become a two-party affair, it will evolve by itself. But what is important is the retention of the credibility of the electoral body. At present, the issue of money is dwindling because despite the huge money used to induce voters, they still decided on what they wanted.
These developments have set a pace for us,

He believed that inducement of eligible voters with money is allegedly becoming a thing of the past, just as he believed that crave for a value change in governance has become the order of the day among Nigerians due to increasing level of voters education.

Saraki, in a chat with reporters yesterday in Ilorin while savouring the joy of securing a successive second term ticket at the senate did not rule out the streamlining of the existing number of the nation’s political parties to two thus giving the nation a two party democratic system.

The former Kwara State governor, who gave a hint on the likely defection of his biological sister, Gbemisola Saraki, from People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to APC, thus putting an end to about five years political hostilities between the duo, said the recent comments credited to the Minister of National Planning, Olanrewaju Suleiman, that he (Saraki) among other allegations rigged the election at his Agbaaji Ward in Ilorin should be a shameful comment to the minister, “who with all the paraphernalia of office could not deliver his polling booth during the polls.”

He said: “In Nigeria, we are having a multi-party system of democracy. If it will become a two-party affair, it will evolve by itself. But what is important is the retention of the credibility of the electoral body. At present, the issue of money is dwindling because despite the huge money used to induce voters, they still decided on what they wanted.

“These developments have set a pace for us, such that we need to do very well in office to retain the confidence of the electorate because of our democracy that is now a matured one.”